FL

In the 90’s I built a recording studio called Voice Works in West Palm Beach, Fl recorded and worked with a lot of great musicians. Bob Noble was my producer and I ended up selling the gear to him. Had a great time!

In 1992 Bob and his family moved to the US (Seattle, Washington), and in 1995 they moved to Lake Worth in Florida (they like heat!). He now has a home studio where he has produced, engineered and arranged several CD’s for local artists, and has also written and produced background music and several adverts for TV. Bob also plays regularly with multi-talented singer and instrumentalist, Bobby O’Donovan, in an Irish duo called Fire In The Kitchen – www.fireinthekitchen.info at different venues in South Florida.

Tracy Sands- Enchanted

Tracy Sands is a traditional Irish singer and Contemporary Irish Vocalist. She was born in Mayobridge, a small village in County Down, Ireland where she began singing at the age of eight for her hometown. She had the honour of being trained over many years by a well known local teacher, Una McArdle and competed in and won countless local and national singing competitions under Una’s guidance. Her family comes from a long line of Traditional Irish folk music performers, including the very famous “Sands Folk Family”, who are known all over the world. “Tracy has a beautiful voice”, Charles Passey PB Post.

Tracy played at many festivals and concerts in Ireland, including the Abbey Theatre in Dublin, before coming to America, where she was the only woman to be invited as the guest singer for the W.B Yeates International Festival in 1994. She has also appeared at the Fiddlers Green Festival, Rostrevor Co. Down.

Now living in Florida, Tracy has performed on many local stages for over ten years and has participated in the West Palm Beach Irish Festival and South Florida Folk Festival, and the Bad Abbotts Irish Festival, Boston. She also appeared at the hugely popular “Sunfest”, in West Palm Beach. She has taken the stages of Milwaukee, Cleveland, Ohio, Pittsburgh, and Augusta GA at their Irish Festivals.

Her debut album “Voice on the Line” was recorded in Florida in early 1997 and Tracy wrote and produced the title track. The CD is a collaboration of well known Irish songs, and was praised for its “contemporary kick”, as described by Charles Passey, of the Palm Beach Post. Her second album, “Enchanted,” also available gives us those beautiful vocals with Irish ballads and contemporary songs that would warm your soul.
Tracy can be seen performing all over Florida, as well as at venues throughout America. tracysands.com

MAYOBRIDGE ex-pat, Tracy Sands, is .set to make waves in the US with the release of her new music album, ‘Enchanted’. Featuring original songs and guest writers, including fellow Mayobridge native, Kieran Goss, the release has been billed as “an album of more contemporary sound. Expect to hear quieter tones of traditional style…” The record is the second release from the Co. Down artist who recorded her debut album, “Voice On The Line’ in Florida, 1997. The release also marks yet another milestone on the road of Tracy’s musical career. She began singing at the age of eight and since then competed in, and won, many local and national competitions. During her time she has played at Abbey Theatre, Dublin, where she was invited as the guest speaker for the WB Yeats International Festival in 1994. She has also appeared at the Fiddler’s Green festival in Rostrevor, bringing the house down in 1995, Following her move to Florida, she played at events such as the West Palm Beach Irish Festival and the South Florida Folk Festival, for three years running, Last year saw her appearing at the huge ‘Sunfest 2000’ gig on Palm Beach. Her latest offering marks a move towards giving traditional Irish ballads a contemporary kick and, with critics hailing this new album, how long will it be until we see the triumphant return of one of Newry and Mourne’s best success stories?

Jennifer Licko

Jennifer is an exceptional vocalist and multi-instrumentalist who plays the piano, guitar, and bodhrán (Irish drum). By living and touring all over the world Jennifer has not only experienced a variety of cultural traditions, but she has also developed a passion for the preservation of these traditions. When you listen to Jennifer perform, you are reminded of your roots and you feel like you belong. “We all want to belong to something bigger than us” says Licko, “the truth
is that we all DO belong. We just need to stay connected to our traditions. I hope my performances help bring audiences to that place.” jenniferlicko.com

George E. Manosis – “Love and Other Disasters”

George is a Singer/Songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in South Florida. Currently, he plays guitar and

mandolin in the Celtic rock band ‘Innisfree’, in addition to his solo gigs. George has played repeat engagements at
the annual South Florida Folk Festival, and he and his original songs can be heard at various clubs, festivals

A collection of stylistically diverse songs (Folk/Pop/Blues/Easy Listening/Country)that share a common thread, with tales of love from the innocent to the illicit.

Track list

Hurricane
Nitro-Glycerine
Kate
Who Cares About Apathy?
Dream Vacation
A Soft Lullaby
What They Do in the Dark
Mom & Dad
Crazy ’bout Each Other
Have a Happy Holiday
A Grand Cayman Wedding
Habanero Hop

CD Review: This CD is recommended as new discovery for any fan of Jimmy Buffet. It’s straight ahead story telling with mellow smooth voice and arrangements, and as you can guess by the title, a good sprinkling of humor throughout.I think he puts it perfectly at the top of his liner notes describing the songs as dedications and observations. The topics are quite varied. He writes observations about love, hurricanes and habeneros. Included are observations about his parents, new love full of hope, and not so new love turning into secrets and lies. The title sums up the way that they all are tied together.Kate Bush fans will also enjoy decoding his song “Kate” because as he puts it, this song incorporates the titles of her albums and contains other obscure references in the lyrics. But for the most part the songs are not puzzles. They are straightforward story songs delivered in George’s smooth voice. The production quality is nice, with a gentle treatment that allows the lyrics and the stories to be in the foreground.

Rod MacDonald– “Into the Blue”

A tenor with a clear voice and wide range, MacDonald is often cited for both his musicality and the content of his songs about political and social events: “Rod MacDonald is a brilliant folk singer and composer. His melodic songs possess words that go straight into your heart and soul.” The Press Of Atlantic City….“A poet with a lot on his mind who has never allowed himself to make points at the expense of making music.” The Boston Globe….“True to the folk tradition, MacDonald is not afraid to get political, take chances, and perhaps shock some people….MacDonald’s place in the folk hall of fame is assured by his ‘A Sailor’s Prayer,’ a hymn-styled tune that many people have mistaken for a traditional song.” All-Music Guide.[2]Although usually labeled a folk singer, his musical styles include rock, pop, country, light jazz, and blues. In addition to his work in Greenwich Village, he has written extensively of experiences on US Indian reservations and in Europe, living in Italy from 1989 to 1992.

MacDonald has released 11 solo recordings on several record labels in the US, 8 in Europe on the Swiss label Brambus, and 21 songs with Smithsonian Folkways (through the Fast Folk Musical Magazine), and appears as lead singer of Big Brass Bed, a Palm Beach County rock and roll band, on 3 cds of Bob Dylan songs and originals. As with many independent artists, his recordings are often sold directly at concerts, and at online sites. His current label is Blue Flute Music.

He remains active, touring in Florida, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, the Pacific Northwest, New York and New England in 2012, 2013 and 2014. In May 2011, Brambus Records and Blue Flute Music released Songs Of Freedom, a collection of 16 previously unreleased songs, in Switzerland and the US; Blue Flute also released Big Brass Bed’s “Dylan Jam + 2”, a new set of 9 Bob Dylan compositions and two originals. In May 2014 Blue Flue Music released a new Rod MacDonald collection, “Later That Night”, as well as “Big Tent”, a new cd by Big Brass Bed; Blue Flute also re-released a remastered version of his 1983 album “No Commercial Traffic.” He appears locally as a guitarist-singer, and with the Bob Dylan cover band Big Brass Bed, with the Humdingers, with Irish singer Tracy Sands, and with songwriter George Goehring’s show “My Life In The Brill Building”. The Palm Beach Post has called him one of the “Ten Magnificent Musicians of Palm Beach County”.[3] In June 2013 New Times Broward-Palm Beach named him #6 of “Ten Greatest South Florida Folksingers Of All Time.”[4] Since 2006 he is also an instructor for the Florida Atlantic University (Lifelong Learning Center), hosting the lecture and performance series “Music Americana”, and was given the Distinguished Faculty Award in 2012

Track list

Seven Days No Problem
Best Defense
Days Of Rain
Here’s A Song For You
Tough Life 6 Strings & A Hole Big & Round
The Aucilla River Song
Deep Down In The Everglades
Lightning Over The Sea
Into The Blue FearSun DancerThe Cure For Insomnia

HUGH O’NEILL – Searching for Shadows

“Hugh O’Neill is one of those rare discoveries that bring confidence and assurances that great landscape painting is still alive and flourishing” Bruce Helander is a noted writer on art and the former provost of Rhode Island School of Design and a writer for New Yorker Magazine

“He is a multitalented artist ‘Grier Clarke, owner of the prestigious Clarke Galleries, Stowe, Vermont, dealers in important American paintings

The Songwriter’s Solstice: “A Celebration of South Florida Songwriters” was recorded before a live audience at the Rinker Playhouse, The Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, FL, June 21, 1998. Presenting 14 songs from this diverse group of south Florida’s top original artists,

By Bill Meredith(Originally appeared in the Free Press, West Palm Beach, FL, 3/99)
Summer in the county

For better or worse, the 1990s made the compilation CD unto an ultra-commercial art form. So it’s not surprising that there’s finally a compilation CD for Palm Beach County. Songwriters’ Solstice is well-recorded, well-produced, and it’s available at a music store near you for $12. With 14 songs on the disc, that’s less than $1 per tune.

Songwriters’ Solstice was recorded live last June at the Kravis Center Rinker Playhouse during a concert to benefit the Connor Moran Childen’s Cancer Foundation in West Palm Beach. The CD sounds like the show (I know, I was there). South Florida singer/songwriter/guitarist Rod MacDonald was instrumental in setting up the event, and his Neil Young-like “Days of Rain” is one of the solo-performer highlights. Others include Marie Nofsinger’s tongue-in-cheek “I Am Blue,” Amy Carol Webb’s soaring ballad “With You Without You,” and James London’s “The Road Not Taken.”

Area duos and trios are also well-represented. Mad Dogs & Irishmen’s “Hustle & Bustle” is traditional rich Irish poetry; Ron & Bari’s “The Lion’s Den” is a biographical tale of the very different neighborhood that used to inhabit the Kravis Center site; and Legacy’s “At Last” wraps expert vocal harmony, guitar, and mandolin playing into the disc’s most upbeat tune.

Two full bands are in effect here: Boxelder shows its unplugged side with the shuffling “Lately,” and Human Beings provide the Solstice centerpiece with their serpentining eight-minute epic “Stairwell From Heaven.” Jim Collier & friends offer an audio snapshot of the crowded cover photo with the gospel-tinged finale, “You Are The One.”

Kudos to recording engineers Marty Gauthier, Duane Engstrom, and the Kravis’ own John Wurm. Ditto for the production by Gauthier, Engstrom and MacDonald. The sold-out concert raised $1,000 for Conor Moran, which receives an additional $1 per retail CD sold. Songwriters’ Solstice is available at all Peaches and Borders locations, and this purposeful compilation is an accurate soundtrack to the lighter side of the south Florida music scene.

(Originally appeared in the Free Press, West Palm Beach, FL, 3/99)

Jody Pollard – Session Musician

Born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, Jody Pollard has over 30 years experience playing electric, slide, acoustic guitar, bass, mandolin, a proficient song writer and vocalist, He has performed with top bands in Ireland, Britain, France, Belgium, Holland,The Greek Isles,Canada and the US, including Rock Bands’ Skid Row, Elmer Fudd, and Shanty Dam. He has played the famous Reading Music Festival, London’s top venue: The Mean Fiddler and Fleadh Music Festival.

Jody has also performed with famous European acts such as Joe Dolan and Has worked with musicians such as Phil Lynnot of Thin Lizzy, Colm Wilkinson of Jesus Christ Superstar and Les Miserables fame, Sean Keane of The Chieftains,Rob Strong and Enya’s sound engineer Nicky Ryan to mention a few.

He has toured with bands and as a solo artist throughout Europe and North America. Performed on televised venues and supported acts such as Emerson Lake and Palmer, The Who, Genesis, Wishbone Ash, and Argent to name a few. One of Jody’s favourite gigs was playing the Melody Makers poll awards concert to an audience of 30,000+

Since playing in every corner of Ireland, Jody moved to London, England and continued his successful career over there.He moved on to New York for a while but decided that he had enough of big cities and headed further south. Jody always had an itch to live in the sunshine and now resides in Palm Beach County in South Florida, he has played at numerous venues including but not limited to the The Kravis Center, Myer Amphitheater, The Miami Beach Convention Center, The Norton Museum and PGA National. Locally Jody has also entertained audiences at Brogues on the Avenue:Lake Worth, The Irish Times: Palm Beach Gardens, Rooney’s Pub: West Palm Beach, Paddy Macs: Palm Beach Gardens, Abacoa, Sally O’Briens, Fort Lauderdale Beach,Maguires Hill 16: Fort Lauderdale FL. & John Martins, Miami.

Jody’s session work can also be heard on several South Florida recording artists cd’s.

Eamonn Dillon – Session Musician

Born in West Belfast, Northern Ireland, Uillleann Piper and whistle player EAMONN DILLON has toured and recorded both as a solo artist and with a varied group of performers, touring shows and bands. Working between the US, Canada and Europe , his music has been featured on several film and television programs around the world. He has performed and recorded as a featured artist in both traditional , theatrical and mixed genre ensembles, including NEEDFIRE, JOHN MCDERMOTT, (The Irish Tenors,) CELTIC BRIDGE, KING JAMES, SARAH PACKIAM, & PALOMA FAITH amongst others.

Jennifer Licko
Cd……..Cave of Gold

Bobby O’Donovan – Session Musician

hails from Cork City, Ireland, and is a wonderful singer and multi-instrumentalist, playing mandolin, fiddle, bodhran, whistle, bones, spoons – you name it, he probably plays it! He has a long career playing with numerous groups, including, but not limited to, The Irish Rovers and The Sons of Erin, with whom he played on fifteen albums. They had several hits in Canada, and also a television series in Newfoundland for many years.

He has played all over the world, and has just returned from New Zealand, where he played with Scottish singer/songwriter Isla Grant. He has played as a session musician on many, many recordings, including a Jimmy Buffett album, “Banana Wind”. He is also very funny!

Jennifer Licko
Cd……..Cave of Gold

ShaSha Zhang – Session Musician

ShaSha (nee Sha Zhang), originally hails from the city of Chengdu in the Sichuan province of China. The Sichuan province is famed for its extremely spicy food, but is rapidly gaining renown for its equally spicy fiddle players!

A mathematics prodigy and student of classical violin since the age of 6, ShaSha was in training to join the junior Chinese Mathematic Olympic Team when she was accepted to the prestigious Sichuan Conservatory of Music. She opted for music over mathematics, and her decision paid off. I n 1996, she won first prize at the China University Students Art Festival. ShaSha would have been content to spend her life performing the works of Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, but a summer scholarship to the Dartington International School in England changed her life forever.

Her studies in England initially revolved around master classes with world-famous violin virtuosos Ruggerio Ricci and Kun Hu. But when ShaSha heard an instructor play through the Irish reel “Drowsy Maggie”, she was captivated. She spent the rest of her time in the UK immersing herself in Celtic music.

Back in China, she collected whatever Celtic reccordings she could
and continued exploring the musical style that had thrilled her like no other. She formed the band “Jambalaya” with several of the most accomplished musicians in ChengDu and their mix of Celtic, American Country and Jazz music caught on. They garnered appearances on Chinese television and radio stations, and enjoyed a steady stream of gigs in the Sichuan province.

In 1999, ShaSha accepted an invitation to America to perform in concerts and on tour. In the US, she hoped to broaden her horizons and indulge her eclectic musical taste by exploring a variety of Western music styles. She settled in Palm Beach, Florida, where she performs with the Palm Beach Pops, Palm Beach Opera and the Atlantic Classical Chamber Orchestra. Her arrival in the US afforded ShaSha the opportunity to connect with the surprisingly vast Celtic music community in South Florida and she was soon gracing festival and pub stages with the best in town musicians, such as former Irish Rovers members, Bobby O’Donovan and Ian Millar.

ShaSha’s uncanny knack for playing by ear astounded her fellow musicians and she quickly made a name for herself. “I could tell as soon as she picked up the violin that she had it”, says Bob Noble, formerly of Dexy’s Midnight Runners. Noble and O’Donovan adopted ShaSha as a permanent member of their band “Fire in the Kitchen”, based in Fort Lauderdale, and the press took notice. The Miami Herald and Sun Sentinel ran glowing reviews focusing on ShaSha’s infectiously exuberant style.

Jennifer Licko
Cd……..Cave of Gold

John Charles “Charlie” Morgan – Session Musician

With 4 decades in the business, much of it at the very top, Charlie’s resumé reads like a Who’s Who of the Music Industry.

Turning “Pro” in the mid 1970’s he soon got into the session scene in the UK, and very quickly became one of the busiest session drummers in Europe, working with such diverse artists as Kate Bush, Tina Turner, Gary Moore & Wham!

In the mid 1980’s he became Elton John’s regular drummer (a post he would hold for the next 13 years), both recording & touring with him.

He has lived in the USA for the past 14 years, working regularly with Classic Rock band Orleans & recording for clients all over the world, including Barry Manilow, Mexican superstars, Manuel Mijares & Uri and Young Latin Grammy nominee, Alexander Acha.

Bill Walach – Session Musician

Bill is well known throughout the mandolin world as a ‘silver
haired innovator’, an old school musician with new musical
perspectives. He draws on roots as diverse as Latin and Irish
folk traditions, “Straight Ahead” jazz, and rythym and
blues. A gifted multi-instrumentalist and composer Bill has
performed throughout New England and Europe in a
myriad of musical venues. The rock festival at Roskilde in
Denmark, Irish festivals in Milwaukee, Pittsburg and
Cleveland, fiddle and folk festivals in New York and
classical concerts at Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Miami to
name a few. He has also opened for Del McCrory, Dave Van
Ronk, Boz Scaggs, Charlie Daniels and Mel Tillis, and has
played with The Morgans, Electric Sextet, and more recently,
Finest Kind in Connecticut.
His personable and easy manner and musical mastery always
generates an enthusiastic audience response resulting in a fan
base from teenagers to grandparents.
A resident of Connecticut, Bill continues to compose, perform
new works and to stretch the boundaries within which
audiences of all ages can enjoy the music of the mandolin.
“

The Songwriter’s Solstice: “A Celebration of South Florida Songwriters” was recorded before a live audience at the Rinker Playhouse, The Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, FL, June 21, 1998. Presenting 14 songs from this diverse group of south Florida’s top original artists,

By Bill Meredith(Originally appeared in the Free Press, West Palm Beach, FL, 3/99)
Summer in the county

For better or worse, the 1990s made the compilation CD unto an ultra-commercial art form. So it’s not surprising that there’s finally a compilation CD for Palm Beach County. Songwriters’ Solstice is well-recorded, well-produced, and it’s available at a music store near you for $12. With 14 songs on the disc, that’s less than $1 per tune.

Songwriters’ Solstice was recorded live last June at the Kravis Center Rinker Playhouse during a concert to benefit the Connor Moran Childen’s Cancer Foundation in West Palm Beach. The CD sounds like the show (I know, I was there). South Florida singer/songwriter/guitarist Rod MacDonald was instrumental in setting up the event, and his Neil Young-like “Days of Rain” is one of the solo-performer highlights. Others include Marie Nofsinger’s tongue-in-cheek “I Am Blue,” Amy Carol Webb’s soaring ballad “With You Without You,” and James London’s “The Road Not Taken.”

Area duos and trios are also well-represented. Mad Dogs & Irishmen’s “Hustle & Bustle” is traditional rich Irish poetry; Ron & Bari’s “The Lion’s Den” is a biographical tale of the very different neighborhood that used to inhabit the Kravis Center site; and Legacy’s “At Last” wraps expert vocal harmony, guitar, and mandolin playing into the disc’s most upbeat tune.

Two full bands are in effect here: Boxelder shows its unplugged side with the shuffling “Lately,” and Human Beings provide the Solstice centerpiece with their serpentining eight-minute epic “Stairwell From Heaven.” Jim Collier & friends offer an audio snapshot of the crowded cover photo with the gospel-tinged finale, “You Are The One.”

Kudos to recording engineers Marty Gauthier, Duane Engstrom, and the Kravis’ own John Wurm. Ditto for the production by Gauthier, Engstrom and MacDonald. The sold-out concert raised $1,000 for Conor Moran, which receives an additional $1 per retail CD sold. Songwriters’ Solstice is available at all Peaches and Borders locations, and this purposeful compilation is an accurate soundtrack to the lighter side of the south Florida music scene.